Beatles tribute band to perform at Kaneland

Armando Regalado is the first to admit that he doesn’t look much like Paul McCartney. But his band, The Cavern Beat, has earned rave reviews for sounding like The Beatles. Regalado has earned his share of acclaim for playing McCartney in the band.

The Cavern Beat will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Kaneland High School auditorium, 47W326 Keslinger Road, at a fundraiser for the Kaneland Arts Festival.

This is the second year the band has performed at the high school. This year, The Cavern Beat will be joined by M&M Dance Company and choir members from Kaneland School District 302. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students/senior citizens, available by calling 630-365-5100, ext. 180, or at www.kanelandartsfestival.org.

The band includes Jim Irizarry as John Lennon, Doug Couture as George Harrison and Al Wagner as Ringo Starr.

“Originally when the band formed, it was just a band of guys who played oldies and some Beatles stuff,” Regalado said. “I was playing in another band at the time, and Wagner heard me do a Beatles song and he said, ‘Boy, you sound a lot like Paul McCartney.’ ”

Wagner later asked him to be a part of The Cavern Beat.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Regalado said. “The biggest thing for us was YouTube. Our manager at the time put some clips of us at YouTube. We were getting responses from all over the world about our band and our unique sound. And we got invited by the folks in England and Liverpool to play and do a tour of England.”

The band bills itself as the “world’s best Beatles tribute band.” Regalado said the band tries to live up to that reputation.

“We pride ourselves on our vocal ability,” he said. “Our goal is not to look exactly like The Beatles. There are a lot of bands that do that already. Our strength is just the musical ability, and the quality of the sound that we reproduce live from the records.”

McCartney is not Regalado’s favorite Beatle.

“George has always been my favorite Beatle,” he said. “This is going to sound kind of silly, but I just liked his look. He just looked really cool. He was the quiet one, and his guitars were really cool. When I was growing up, I thought he got all the chicks.”

If you go

What: The Beatles tribute band, The Cavern Beat, will perform in a fundraiser for the Kaneland Arts Festival.

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Kaneland High School auditorium, 47W326 Keslinger Road.

Info: Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students/senior citizens, available by calling 630-365-5100, ext. 180, or at www.kanelandartsfestival.org.